‘The Island’ Available in Print

Over ten years ago, Ajahns Pasanno and Amaro conceived the idea to compile an anthology of the Buddha’s teachings on Nibbāna from the Pali Canon. Many times during the past five years, publication of The Island seemed to be just a few months away. After a while, the abbots began to quip that the book should be retitled “The Horizon.” The authors finalized the text in 2008, but indexing and formatting the work delayed its publication until spring 2009. On the auspicious occasion of Tan Thitapañño’s June 13 bhikkhu ordination, The Island was posted to the Abhayagiri website. The Island can be downloaded in pdf format at www.abhayagiri.org/main/book/1788/.

The generosity of numerous lay supporters allowed over 5,000 copies of The Island to be printed. A small press in Florida finished printing the books in late July, and shipments of the books began arriving at other Dhamma centers across the country in early August. On August 7, a tractor trailer arrived at Abhayagiri Monastery with five palettes of the long-awaited book. The authors, editors, and sponsors of The Island are pleased to offer you this gift of Dhamma.

From the preface:
What is presented here is an attempt by Ajahn Pasanno and myself to put together a small compendium of these ‘essence teachings’ of the Buddha, as they appear in the Pali Canon and have been conveyed by the lineages that rely upon them (the Thai forest tradition in particular), in the hope that they will be of benefit to those who rejoice in the liberation of the heart. All the other references that are made herein, whether drawing on Thai forest meditation masters, modern science, classical literature, Northern Buddhism or whatever, are made solely to help illustrate the meaning of the Pali – it is the faith of the editors that the Buddha’s words can speak for themselves and this work has been compiled with that intention.